Golden Gate Park is over a thousand acres and most visitors see the same forty of them. Eight gardens and green pockets, ranked, including a walled garden built to be experienced by scent and a redwood grove at the foot of a downtown skyscraper.
Several of these are free all the time. The Japanese Tea Garden is free before 10am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which happens to be when it is also empty.
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1
Japanese Tea Garden
The oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, built for the 1894 World's Fair and tended by the Hagiwara family for nearly 50 years.
America's oldest public Japanese garden, established for the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894. The Hagiwara family managed the garden from 1895 to 1942; Makoto Hagiwara is credited with introducing fortune cookies at the teahouse. Three acres in Golden Gate Park; free for SF residents with ID, free for everyone before 10:00 AM Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
75 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, Golden Gate Park Full write-up → -
2
Conservatory of Flowers
Victorian wood-and-glass conservatory at 100 JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park, opened in 1879. Five galleries of tropical and aquatic plants. $12 adults, free first Tuesdays.
100 John F. Kennedy Dr, Golden Gate Park Full write-up → -
3
San Francisco Botanical Garden
Fifty-five acres of plants from climates similar to San Francisco's, inside Golden Gate Park. Free for SF residents with ID; free for everyone before 9am and on the second Tuesday of each month.
A 55 acre garden in Golden Gate Park, home to more than 9,000 plant species, with collections from climates comparable to San Francisco: Mediterranean, cloud forest, and tropical highland. Founded through a 1927 bequest from Helene Strybing, laid out by a WPA crew in 1937, and opened in May 1940. Free for San Francisco residents with ID; open daily 7:30am to 9:00pm. Free for everyone the second Tuesday of each month.
1199 9th Avenue, Golden Gate Park Full write-up → -
4
Transamerica Redwood Park
Did you know there are redwood trees at the base of the Transamerica Pyramid?
A half-acre redwood grove at the base of the Transamerica Pyramid. It's free too.
600 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94111 Full write-up → -
5
Tree Fern Dell (Mescaline Grove)
A sunken hollow of towering tree ferns in Golden Gate Park, nicknamed Mescaline Grove since the 1960s. Dense canopy, prehistoric plants, and a two-minute walk that drops you into a rainforest.
A dense stand of tree ferns in Golden Gate Park, some over 15 feet tall, with sword ferns, Boston ferns, and European ferns covering the ground. In the 1960s it picked up the nickname "Mescaline Grove," which still circulates. No signs or benches. A 2 minute walk off JFK Drive near the Conservatory of Flowers. Free.
Near Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park Full write-up → -
6
Shakespeare Garden
Small walled garden in Golden Gate Park planted with species mentioned in Shakespeare's works. Each plant labeled with the relevant passage. Free, dawn to dusk.
Golden Gate Park, near California Academy of Sciences Full write-up → -
7
Garden of Fragrance
A walled garden inside the SF Botanical Garden designed for visitors with visual impairments. Every plant chosen for scent or texture, with raised beds at arm's height.
A sensory garden inside the San Francisco Botanical Garden, designed in 1965 for blind visitors. Plants are chosen for scent and texture, and the signs are in Braille. Many of the walls were built with stones from a 12th century monastery that William Randolph Hearst shipped to San Francisco. Included with garden admission (free for SF residents).
Inside SF Botanical Garden, 1199 9th Ave, Golden Gate Park Full write-up → -
8
Tenderloin National Forest
A narrow alley off Ellis Street transformed into a dense garden of redwoods, murals, and benches. Two minutes to walk through, and a genuine surprise in the Tenderloin.
Redwoods, murals, koi ponds, and a handmade clay oven inside; the dense Tenderloin outside.
Cohen Alley, off Ellis St, Tenderloin Full write-up →
Last checked August 17, 2026
